Morning Fog

It has been slightly foggy most mornings since going back to school, but this morning you can barely see 50 feet. I told Avery this morning that in Ohio we would be having a delay for school already. It is kind of nice to know that life goes on as normal even when there is fog/inclement weather. Why do people get so worked up about weather down in the lower 48? It is not something that you can control, so why let it bother you? People here are so much more relaxed about things like that and, generally, dont get too worked up about it. I think that I am a more calm and accepting person for having lived here.

Second day of school

The first day of school went really well. I was so exhausted when I got home that I fell asleep reading on the couch after dinner and didnt wake up until almost 11pm. When I finally did wake up, I had practically no motivation to work out, but I did anyway and was surprised to find that I've lost another 4 pounds. So, now I've lost those 3 pounds that I gained back after leaving Vegas early this summer, plus a couple more. Yay me! When I can see the pounds falling away like that, it really makes it easy to keep it up.

Today, I'm getting to see what all of my classes are going to look like on a daily basis now that the high schoolers are in the building too. So far it's been good. It seems like all of my classes have a really great groups of kids in them. But, then again, they are always well behaved the first week or so.

There are a few things in particular that I am really excited about for this year...
1. I have Avery as a student for the first time ever. It may go good or bad, but either way it will be interesting.

2. The graduating seniors this year are kids that I taught two year ago when they were sophomores in Biology. It will be the first time that I will watch a group of kids graduate that I had as students. Seeing them just this first day as seniors is really exciting. To know that I had a hand in their success is also a humbling thought. I'm proud of them!

3. The students that I will have in my HS school Biology classes this year are the students that I had two years ago in 8th grade physical science. This is the first time that I will have the same group of kids for a second round of classes. Again, it could go great or be terrible, but either way it will be interesting. These are kids that I developed relationships with when they were young JHers. Now they've had two years to mature and it will be interesting to see how they've changed and how that affects are classroom dynamic.

4. We have an exceptional group of 10 new teachers in the building. They are replacing a group of teachers who, let's just say, were REALLY READY for retirement. The new teachers all seem to be excited and ready to be great teachers. It is nice to be in a building where the people actually want to be there and are excited to be teaching.

Well, time flies when you're having fun...today is going by way too quickly. My lunch break is almost over...gotta go!

First Day of School

Today is the official first day of school, although it is only a JH day. It is nice to have the JH kids only on this first day to give them a chance to get to know the building and its teachers a bit better. I feel fortunate to work for a school that recognizes a need like that and puts together effective solutions for those needs. Our first day of school is very well laid out and includes a morning assembly where the principal welcomes all students while dressed up as some character from a popular children's book, a teacher scramble to get to know the staff better, scavenger hunt to find their classrooms and other important areas around the school, a mini-schedule orientation to go over the student handbook, locker distribution, an antibullying skit from the JH dean, and some cooperative team building games for the kids to get reaquainted with each other. It will be a hectic day, but certainly not for lack of organization.

I threw my camera in the trash a few days again, so this picture was taken using my laptop camera and it did not turn out the best. We're standing in my classroom and the lighting is awful. For the rest of you out there who are starting school today....HAVE AN EXCITING FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!

I missed a few

Turns out there were way more important people in town yesterday than I had known when I wrote yesterday's blog post. Here is a rundown of all of the people who were in town yesterday...

United States Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan
United States Secretary of Agriculture, Thomas J. Vilsack
United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Shaun L.S. Donovan
United States Secretary of Energy, Steven Chu

Governor of the State of Alaska, Sean Parnell
Alaska State Commissioner of Education, Larry LeDoux

Both the Governor and the State Commissioner spoke at the school during our teacher inservice yesterday. Isn't that special? I think so. It reminds me that Bethel really is a special place to be and it makes me sad to think that this will be my last year here.

And 4 (count 'em...FOUR) of Barack Obama's cabinet members where here in Bethel, Alaska (of all places). Click here to read an article in the local newspaper about their visit to Bethel and another village called Hooper Bay.

In other news...
As of yesterday, we still didnt have long distance or internet service.

We are having weather issues already. Yesterday and today have been rainy and dreary. Many village flights were already stuck in Bethel yesterday because of a low ceiling, leaving many village teachers stuck in Bethel. I thought that might happen and wasnt surprised when the teacher from Nightmute that stayed at our place during inservice came knocking last night after getting stuck in Bethel.

I finally got all of my boxes unpacked. I have very little to do now to settle into the new place. All I need to do now is put on the new shower head, find a desk for Avery's room, get a kitchen table, and buy an area rug for the living room. Avery's room does still need a bit of work, but he is taking the responsibility for most of that (as it should be). I just need to mount the TV on his wall and help paint his new nightstand.

I tried sushi for the first time today during lunch out with some of the other teachers. It was good. It opened up a whole new world of possibilities for my palate!

I wish I could take some pictures for you of Bethel right now. It's beautiful here. I was actually surprised by the beauty of it when we first got off the plane a week ago. It's easy to forget how beautiful it is here when it is covered in snow for 7 months and mud for 2 months, which is almost the entire time that I'm here.

After today, I have officially decided that instead of being called teacher inservice, it should be called TT (teacher torture). Today's presenter was awful. Terribly boring.

I've still been working out on the Wii everyday. I had originally lost 15 pounds this summer, but then figured that I gained about 5 back while in Ohio for the last few weeks, but in actuality, I only gained back 3 (which is not good, but better than 5). I am still doing something right though because when I tried to put my belt on this morning, it doesnt even fit anymore...it's too big. That means I'm down 4 notches on my belt now! Awesome!

Ok...time to go home. It's been a long day! We have a workday tomorrow, then the first day of school is Monday. How does the summer manage to fly by so quickly?

Important people

Bethel has two important people visiting today. The United States Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan(pictured above), is here meeting with representatives from our school district and teachers union. He is conducting a round table meeting to find out our views on NCLB (no child left behind). For as small and out of the way Bethel is, I'm surprised and happy that he came all the way out here. I think it's a wonderful that he is getting out and having conversations with people about issues in education. I also think that it is a show of Barack Obama's dedication to education that he is getting the US Secretary of Education out on the road. GOOD JOB!

Also in town today is the Alaska Commissioner of the Department of Education & Early Development, Larry LeDoux. He came around the school and introduced himself to us within our training sessions. He asked us questions, told us his views on education, tried to inspire us to use technology effectively, and welcomed us to contact him. How wonderful! It always amazes me that Bethel is such a visible place within the state of Alaska. I even met then Govenor, Sarah Palin, when she came to tour the school last year. I feel fortunate to live in a community and teach in a district/school where I feel like the voice (my voice) is being heard.
In other news...
The district inservice this year is better than usual. They've actually hired in professionals from mac and smartboard and various other companies to provide training in technology. AND the district brought all of the teachers from the entire district (400 teachers from an area the size of West Virginia) in to Bethel to receive training together. It is a nice opportunity to collaborate with the other teachers from the district and see friends.

I havent had internet or long distance at my house since being in Bethel. So, if you've called me and i havent called you back that's why. I went to get it hooked up yesterday. My long distance should be ready to go today, but my internet still wont be hooked up until next week. That's also why I havent been blogging much. I have internet access at school, but when I've been here these last few days, they've been keeping us very busy with inservice and training.

Our new apt is all unpacked and I managed to fit everything in.

I got some salmon out of the free fish bin the other day. SCORE! More on the free fish bin in another post.

My camera is officially dead. I am going to try to go online and shop for a new one, but until then the blog my be lacking in pictures.

Blueberries and the mosquitos that guard them

I've been doing some berry picking these last few days. There aren't as many berries this year as there have been in previous years. I dont know for sure, but I think it is because the weather has been hotter and drier than usual. In previous years, when walking around out on the tundra, it always felt like a squishy sponge, a bit bouncy as you stepped. This year it is hard and crackly as I walk through it. I have been able to collect two ziplock sandwich baggies full of blueberries, which is about half as much as would have collected in previous years by spending the same amount of time out berry picking.

The mosquitos have been tenacious in their defense of the tundra blueberries. Every time my foot met with the tundra a cloud of mosquitos were uncovered. I was wearing my mud boots, long pants, and a long sleeve shirt to keep myself from getting bit. It didnt work. Picking berries involves alot of bending over. Unfortunately, the mosquitos were able to bite my right through my pants and now my butt is covered with mosquito bites. UNBELIEVABLE!

Postage due

I had a boatload of mail waiting upon my return to Bethel. Included in the pile were a couple of interesting things...

1. I got my professional 5 year teaching certificate, but had to pay 51 cents in order to claim it. I think it is a bit ridiculous that the Alaska STATE department of education did not put proper postage on a document that is allowing me to teach in a state that has a hard time finding teachers.

2. I received a refund check from my cable company for 9 cents. Yes! 9 wopping cents. If you figure the paper to print the check cost 5cents and the postage was 42 cents (or whatever postage is now) and then there were the employees who were paid to handle the account, they lost probably about a dollar printing up the 9 cent check. I wont be wasting my time and energy cashing it.

3. For the last year or so, whenever my retirement account statements came in the mail, my stomach always did a flipflop knowing that inside the envelope would be a paper telling me how much money I was continually losing. This last quarter, however, my accounts have finally GAINED. YAY!

In other news...
We moved our last load of stuff into our new apt today. As I unload and unpack it all, I continue to think...there is NO WAY it is all going to fit into this tiny little place. I dont know what I'm going to do, but I guess I'll find a way to get it all in. The apt is not furnished, so we will have to work on collecting even more furniture, mostly tables (end tables, kitchen table, nightstands). Other than that, we pretty much have what we need. To tell the truth, I'm not too thrilled with this apt. It's really small, but other than that, the apt itself is not that bad. It's the location that I'm not liking much. It is in a little nook with about 10 other apts and the parking space is a jumbled mess. It also has absolutely no view at all. I'm so used to looking out my windows and having tundra all around me, not neighbors. I dont enjoy looking out my window and into someone else's. Well, I only have to tolerate it for 9 months. I think I can handle that!

ok...back to the unpacking...

Plenty of hours, thanks

We have made it back to Bethel safe and sound. Our phone is turned on if you would like to give us a ring, but the long distance is not hooked up yet so we cant call you, you'll have to call us! :) We spent ALL DAY today cleaning, moving, and unpacking our new (small) apt. ALL DAY...from 9:30 this morning until about 11pm tonight. I am exhausted!

You know how sometimes people will say something to the effect of that they would like more hours in the day to get more done? Well, I would have to disagree. Everyday this week has shown me that 24 hours in one day is plenty. I feel like I have had a week of 50 hour days. Time for bed and then another extra long day tomorrow.

miss everyone already! Love ya!

Avery has a magentic personality

First of all, let me clarify....YES, it says magentic, as in magenta, the color. Ok, on to the story...we ate lunch at the chinese restaurant the other day. At the end of the meal, we looked at our fortunes hidden within our fortune cookies. I asked Avery what his said and he replied, "It says 'you have a magentic personality'." And what does that mean, Avery? According to Avery, magentic means smell good. So, I asked Avery, "What you're saying is that your fortune is that you have a smell good personality?" Yep!

I asked him if there was any possibility it said magnetic. Ohhhhhhhhh. Smile.
Avery and I got to spend a super short 19 or so hours visiting with my friends who live outside of Chicago. Kassia and I were originally supposed to road trip from Vegas back to the midwest at the end of July, but because of my family emergency, the funnest part of my summer had to be cancelled.
But I was happy to at least get to hang out with them for a short time. Next year, we'll go do something spectacular, Kas!
Update.
Avery and I just got done sleeping for a couple hours in the airport. We can go get our rental car in about a half hour to commence with a mad dash to all of the big box stores in Anchorage for as many supplies as we can cram into 6 boxes. The ability to accurately gage how close a box/bag is gettting to the 50 pound limit is a skill that I have acquired after these two years in Alaska.

Also, as a testament to how we've gotten used to the Alaska way of life, Taboo ate all of the food that we brought for him to eat while we're traveling. Usually, he doesnt touch it.

We will be back in Bethel this evening and our old Bethel phone number should be hooked back up by Friday. Today's the last day that I'll be able to answer my cell phone, so if you feel a burning urge to call me, you'd better get on it. Thank goodness that it is still light out at midnight because we will need to move at least our beds into our new apt tonight.

Gotta go. Time to shop.

Just FYI

We are leaving for Chicago tonight. We'll be spending a night there before flying out tomorrow. We'll be in Anchorage Wednesday night and back in Bethel on the Thursday evening jet. Cant wait to see everyone during our two days of wonderfully, inspiring inservice! :) If anyone needs a patch of floor to crash on during inservice...just let me know!